Chapter 849

Through this conversation with Li Yuncong, Hu Xiaotian realized that although Li Yuncong, Mu Rongzhan, and Hong Beimo had joined forces to overthrow Ji Feihua and reinstate Laohuangdi on the throne, the relationship among the three also seemed not as close as before.

After bidding farewell to Li Yuncong and leaving the palace, Hu Xiaotian could finally enter and leave the imperial city openly. After returning from Da Yong, he had originally intended to visit his father, who was still under house arrest in Water Well Children Hutong, right away, but not knowing the court's attitude toward him, he dared not act rashly. Now he has finally regained his male identity and has been entrusted with an important task by Qiqi, feeling that his life has turned a new page starting today, and he no longer needs to hide and live in secrecy.

The deterrent power of the Five-Colored Coiled Dragon Gold Medal is beyond doubt; news spreads quickly within the palace, especially under Hu Xiaotian's direction, Shi Xuedong has already had the little eunuchs of the Bureau of Imperial Gardens spread the news of Hu Xiaotian's meritorious award as widely as possible in the shortest time, and now more than half of the eunuchs, palace maids, and guards in the palace already know this newly promoted prominent figure.

Wherever Hu Xiaotian went, whether the palace personnel knew him or not, they all bowed from a distance, a treatment he had never enjoyed when he was a eunuch before.

Hu Xiaotian went to the Imperial Stables and requisitioned a carriage; although Fan Zongxi was not there, the steward eunuch Fu Gui of the Imperial Stables was also an old acquaintance of Hu Xiaotian, and he too was a piece placed by Quan De'an in his layout within the palace. Now Quan De'an has once again become a leading figure among the eunuchs; the little eunuchs who used to follow him have naturally also risen to prominence, and Fu Gui has transformed from an ordinary menial eunuch of the Imperial Stables into a steward eunuch. His promotion speed is already not slow, but compared to Hu Xiaotian he can only look up; Hu Xiaotian became a eunuch later than him, yet he had already become a deputy director of the Bureau of Imperial Gardens early on, and then also served as the head of Zilan Palace, and later also received a recommendation from Ji Feihua, becoming the marriage envoy of Dakang. Although Ji Feihua has now been overthrown, Hu Xiaotian remains unscathed—not only has he not been implicated in Ji Feihua's affair, but he has also been heavily relied upon by the Prince of Yongyang and appointed as Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard; this guy's luck is truly heaven-defying.

People cannot be compared. Fu Gui naturally realized he could never keep up with Hu Xiaotian's pace; for this prominent figure in front of the Prince of Yongyang, he must accompany him carefully, hastily selecting a luxurious carriage and also picking an experienced driver to escort Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian's destination was Water Well Children Hutong; when he arrived by carriage, he saw a carriage already parked outside the hutong. From the carriage's external decorations he could tell its owner was either noble or distinguished, and Hu Xiaotian frowned, not expecting someone to have come before him to visit his father—no wonder, since Laohuangdi had regained the throne. Many people should have realized that his father's reinstatement was only a matter of time, and moreover, Hu Xiaotian had just recovered his identity, achieved great merit, and been appointed Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard; some people, hearing the news, had acted early to curry favor, which was quite normal.

Arriving at the courtyard where his parents lived, Hu Xiaotian saw two warriors standing outside the gate; he did not know where they came from, and although he did not recognize these two warriors, they recognized him. In unison they bowed and said, "Greetings, Sir Hu!"

Hu Xiaotian stared for a moment, pointed inside, and asked, "Who is inside?"

Before the warrior could answer, a familiar voice said, "Is it Hu's worthy nephew returning?"

Hu Xiaotian immediately recognized the voice inside as that of Dakang Chancellor Zhou Ruizhen, and he was startled; he and his father had been estranged for a long time, so why would he come calling voluntarily? It seems that in this world there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests, and under the drive of political interest, Zhou Ruizhen also proactively extended an olive branch to his father.

Hu Xiaotian pushed the door open and entered, just seeing his father seeing Zhou Ruizhen out the door. Hu Xiaotian hurried forward a step and bowed to the ground: "Young Tian pays his respects, Chancellor Sir!"

Zhou Ruizhen smiled and said, "I was just talking about you with Sir Hu, and coincidentally you've arrived—Sir Hu, having such a promising son truly makes people envious!"

Hu Buwei stroked his beard and smiled, "Chancellor, don't praise him so much; it's enough that young people understand progress." Yet inwardly he felt great pride, thinking, "You, Zhou Ruizhen, once broke off our Hu family's marriage engagement; now seeing my son so outstanding, don't you regret it?"

Zhou Ruizhen said, "Then I won't keep you from your father‑son heart‑to‑heart; I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first!"

Hu Buwei and his son respectfully saw Zhou Ruizhen to the door, where Zhou Ruizhen told them to stay put.

After Zhou Ruizhen left, Hu Xiaotian reached out and closed the room door, then fell to his knees with a thud before his father, and in a low voice said, "Son is unfilial; only today have I returned home to visit my father; I hope Father will not blame me."

Hu Buwei grabbed his son and pulled him up from the ground, clasping his hands, his eyes flashing with extraordinarily excited light, his voice trembling as he said, "Just coming back is good, just coming back is good…"

Hu Xiaotian still wanted to say something, but Hu Buwei said, "Let's talk inside the house."

Before entering the room, Hu Xiaotian first observed the surroundings and was convinced that no one was monitoring the area.

Hu Buwei laughed and said, "No need to look; Ji Feihua has already been executed, and those who were watching me have long been withdrawn."

Hu Xiaotian entered the room, and Hu Buwei pointed to a chair and said, "Tian'er, sit first; I'll go brew a pot of good tea, and we'll talk slowly."

Hu Xiaotian responded with an assent, sat down at the table, and could not help recalling the scene when he and his father had come here before and written on the ground to exchange messages; the world changes quickly, and back then he never imagined the situation would reverse so swiftly, and suddenly the fortunes of father and son had changed.

Hu Buwei brewed a pot of tea, carried the tea set over, and Hu Xiaotian rose to help, taking the tray and pouring tea into two coarse porcelain cups; though the tea set was crude, the tea was top‑grade cloud‑mist tea, and even before tasting he could smell its enticing aroma. Hu Xiaotian said, "Excellent tea! Was this sent by Chancellor Zhou?"

Hu Buwei laughed, shook his head, lifted the tea cup to smell the aroma, and said, "This tea is not from Chancellor Zhou; it is cloud‑mist tea picked from Ding Mountain before Qingming, a tribute to the court, and was sent to me by Ji Feihua."

Hearing Ji Feihua's name, Hu Xiaotian's heart sank involuntarily; recalling that before his departure he had entrusted this person to look after his parents, it seems Ji Feihua indeed kept her promise. He took a sip of tea, slowly savoring the fresh fragrance as it permeated his throat, then the refreshing sensation that seeped into his lungs.

Hu Buwei sized up his son, seeing his brand‑new official uniform, and already guessed that this trip to Yongdu would surely earn great merit, for which the court would reward him.

Hu Xiaotian asked, "And my mother?"

Hu Buwei replied, "She is still in Jinling and has not returned yet, but you need not worry; word has come from Jinling that your mother is doing well."

Hu Xiaotian nodded, then briefly recounted his experiences after going to Yongdu, mentioning how the Yongyang Princess had valued him and bestowed the Five-Colored Coiled Dragon Gold Medal upon him, and he took off that medal and handed it to his father.

Hu Buwei received the medal with both hands, examined it, and in a low voice asked, "What else did Her Highness the Princess say?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "She said she would return our family's mansion to us, and also told me to find time to go to the Ministry of Justice to retrieve the things the court had previously confiscated from us."

Hu Buwei asked, "Just that?"

Hu Xiaotian thought his father was concerned about when he himself would be reinstated, and he smiled, saying, "Her Highness the Princess said that His Majesty is not in a hurry to vindicate these old officials because he does not want to stir up unrest in the court; he needs a period to set everything right first, and only then will he begin to reinstate these wronged officials one by one, although Her Highness the Princess also promised that Father will soon be reinstated."

Hu Buwei had actually anticipated all of this, and he smiled faintly, saying, "Do you really think Father values the position of Minister of Revenue that much?" He shook his head and said, "After going through this ordeal, Father has become indifferent to everything; as long as our family is safe and sound, fame, rank, and profit are utterly unimportant."

Hu Xiaotian said, "If that is the case, then I would not want to be Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard either; we could all resign our offices and leave Dakang to enjoy a carefree life."

Hu Buwei gently set down his tea cup and said, "Some things are not up to us to decide; even if we want to leave, we may not be able to."

Hu Xiaotian sensed there was more behind his father's words, and in a low voice asked, "Father, what are you worried about? Now Long Yelin is dead, Ji Feihua has been executed and displayed publicly, your past charges are completely baseless, and the court will soon vindicate you—what is there to worry about?" He then recalled what Li Yuncong had told him, lowered his voice, and wondered, "Could the emperor's secret treasury really exist?"

Hu Buwei said, "The emperor does indeed have some wealth in his hands, but it is nowhere near as extravagant as outsiders imagine; Dakang's current situation, relying solely on that bit of private money from the emperor, would probably still be of no avail."

Hu Xiaotian said, "But I can see you seem to have something on your mind."

Hu Buwei said, "Before His Majesty became the Retired Emperor, he once proposed something to me." He slowly rose, took a few steps, and then said, "He wanted to borrow grain from the Xu family."

Isn't the Xu family just his maternal grandmother's family? Hu Xiaotian knew that the Xu clan in Jinling was extremely wealthy, yet he did not believe they could solve Dakang's grain shortage, and he frowned, asking, "The Xu family in Jinling probably does not have that much grain to relieve Dakang's famine, does it?"

Hu Buwei said, "Dakang has suffered successive poor harvests, and all the major granaries domestically are in dire straits; even if the emperor could take some gold from his secret treasury, having money does not guarantee one can buy grain, and the neighboring countries, pressured by the might of Da Yong, refuse to sell grain to Dakang. Although Sichuan was originally a land of abundance and possessed Dakang's two largest granaries, after Li Tianheng declared himself king, obtaining grain from him has become utterly impossible."

"Li Tianheng previously raised the banner of loyalist troops and proclaimed himself king; now that the Retired Emperor has again taken the throne, could he possibly rejoin Dakang's side?"

Hu Buwei's lips curled into a wry smile: "Li Tianheng's decision to raise troops and proclaim himself king was certainly not a sudden one; it was merely that the palace coup instigated by Long Yelin advanced his timetable considerably, and regardless of whether that event occurred, Li Tianheng would inevitably become king sooner or later."

The update has been uploaded; although it's a bit late, I've kept my promise—those who stayed up to read it, don't forget to vote! (To be continued~^~)